Desperado

1995 Directed by Robert Rodriguez

When the smoke clears, it just means he's reloading.

El Mariachi, a musician, arrives in a Mexican town and is mistaken as a hit-man. He runs into trouble with a local drug lord and seeks to avenge the death of his lover.

Antonio Banderas Salma Hayek Joaquim de Almeida Steve Buscemi Cheech Marin Carlos Gómez Quentin Tarantino Tito Larriva Angel Aviles Danny Trejo Abraham Verduzco Carlos Gallardo Albert Michel Jr. David Alvarado Angela Lanza Mike Moroff Robert Arevalo Gerardo Moscoso Peter Marquardt Consuelo Gómez Jaime de Hoyos Cristos Richie Gaona Tommy Nix Patricia Vonne Elizabeth Rodriguez Mark Dalton Julio Oscar Mechoso

Alternative Titles

El Mariachi 2 - Desperado, El Mariachi 2, Pistolero, 데스페라도, Відчайдушний, La balada del pistolero, El Mariachi, 杀人三部曲

action thriller crime

104 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Grooveman ★★★★★ 1

I had a paper route when I was 12 and this was the first movie I bought on VHS with my money. 12 year old Grooveman was a bad motherfucker.
Review by DirkH ★★★ 9

Way before Rodriguez only made silly cartoons, he made slightly less silly cartoons that were fun because of fun not because of an obsession with his own style.
Two things though:
- Tarantino telling that joke.
- Salma Hayek crossing the street.
Two very legitimate reasons to rewatch this when you get the chance.
Review by Siegel™ ★★★★½ 2

Did not expect this to be so fucking good. It's the perfect Hollywood blockbuster - it's loud and fun and funny and violent, and not so dumb that it's inane. The camerawork is genuinely interesting, Antonio Banderas is freaking amazing, the mob boss villain is one of the best over-the-top villains ever, Steve Buscemi opens up the film like a boss, Quentin Tarantino shows up just to fuck around for a few minutes, Danny Trejo is always cool as shit. What else do you want already? I laughed and cheered the whole time 🥳🎉🎈
Review by Matthew Noble ★★★★½ 6

Desperado Double-Bill:
Film #2: Desperado
"Give me the strength to be what I was, and forgive me for what I am."
Has anyone ever noticed that Antonio Banderas is a reasonably handsome man? Or that Salma Hayek is a deeply sexy lady? It may partially explain why they were cast in the leads this time, just putting that out there.
Like El Mariachi, Desperado is an absolute blast from start to finish. Obviously it gets serious at certain points when required, but Rodriguez's main concern is always about entertaining his audience. Making them laugh, making them gasp, and definitely making them cheer. And cheer they do. You can tell he relished having a bigger budget to play with this time,…
Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★★★★ 6

Gratuitous revenge taking, ass-kicking, bullet spraying, knife flicking, rocket launching guitars, outbursts of pyromania!
Pick this film and you are in serious danger of having a good time! It's Licensed to Thrill! And Thrill Again!
The body count is high, so are the testosterone levels!
Antonio Banderas hot and sultry level is at a defcon 1 status!
Review by DirkH ★★★ 3

This was my first Rodriguez and I remember really liking his energy. Exploring his filmography over the years has always been fun, but with the exception of perhaps one or two films, revisiting them hasn't.
Desperado's first half hour or so is absolutely fantastic. It shows Rodriguez's sense of style and his ability to shoot action really well. He sets the scene perfectly, giving his audience no doubt as to what we're going to watch. A Mexican western, with loads of over the top violence, sweat and blood.
The problem is, however, that Rodriguez doesn't keep his promises. For the better part of Desperado, Rodriguez seems to be stuck on repeat, a trait often present in his films. It almost…
Review by JackBurton1234 ★★★★★ 8

Watched Three Times, Forgot to Log
In my top three Rodriguez films.
Tarantino’s scene just makes this movie so much better. If you haven’t seen it just watch it. It’s worth watching the movie for that scene alone.
Then there’s the scene where the group trying to kill Antonio Banderas accidentally kills Danny Trejo and that was just amazing. Rodriguez has some great comedy scenes.
Also Antonio Banderas is just pure badass in this film.
The opening scene where Steve Buscemi is telling the guys at the bar the story of what Antonio Banderas did is just amazing.
Then the shootout in the bar is just insane. Tons of blood and tons of badassery.
Oh yeah and Danny Trejo’s cameo…
Review by Tatiana Sofia🧼 ★★★★

I can't believe that there this a trilogy where the main character doesn't have a name and there are any plot reasons for it.
But I guess I'm ok with it because he plays guitar.
Review by TheCloser79 ★★★★½ 2

Iconic and larger-than-life is told at the beginning of "Desperado" by a killer disguised as Mariachi, who would currently clean up properly in dirty gangster bars. It is the battered Mariachi from Rodriguez's directorial debut, now embodied in top form by Antonio Banderas, who is still on the vengeance campaign through Mexico and finally wants to flatten the drug lord Bucho, who is responsible for the murder of his beloved ...
You can tell that "Desperado" has not made up his mind whether he wants to be a sequel or a remake. It is a fusion similar to that of "Evil Dead 2" and the story is even more superficial than in the extremely limited budgeted, even minimal predecessor. But…
Review by 𝑤𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 ★★★

f̲o̲r̲g̲i̲v̲e̲ ̲m̲e̲ ̲f̲o̲r̲ ̲w̲h̲a̲t̲ ̲i̲ ̲a̲m̲
Ugh I had to turn down a very beautiful girl yesterday cause apparently I’m bad with relationships haha. Honestly I’m just tired of everything being my fault and crazy pretty chicks are severely draining for my health lol. I’m just exhausted from giving my all just to be stepped on you know. Never get lovey, dovey kids, you make all the wrong choices. But she was very sweet and wanted to go for drinks but idk, I think she deserves better plus I’m just too emotionally empty rn. She reminded me of salma on here like no joke, the golden skin and dark hair ugh how coincidental! The cherry red lipstick mhmm. Jeez im…
Review by Laurie Strode ★★★½

Not Rodriguez's best film, but as a Mexican action film with flare and spice and brilliant set pieces, it doesn't get much better.
Review by Bryan Espitia ★★★★½ 2

“Your beer tastes like piss.”
“We know, because we piss in it!”
Tarantino’s reaction after drinking the beer is absolute gold.

Recent reviews

Review by HWB ★★★½

If modern thriller directors had just even half the panache of Robert Rodriguez—we'd live in a much more entertaining world.
Review by Lucas_delpas ★★★½

sim salma hayek, por favor salma hayek, obrigado salma hayek
Review by ChristianLimon ★★★½

Even though he's not Mexican, Antonio Banderas is totally in the Mexican Hall of Fame.
Review by Xavier Ronquillo ★★★

Mehh
Review by Christopher Rosen ★★★★

I can practically smell the Blockbuster VHS tape on this one. "Desperado" is a movie I probably watched 10+ times in the late 1990s and then never went back to again. But it's on HBO Max right now and, hey, life is short and nostalgia sometimes rules. In actuality, this is barely a movie -- three massive shoot-em-up action scenes separated by appearances from Steve Buscemi and Quentin Tarantino, both of whom do bits out of Tarantino's scraps bin. But there's a real joy to this whole thing: Robert Rodriguez stages the action scenes like Sam Raimi doing a Roadrunner cartoon and Antonio Banderas fully owns.
Review by Slig ★★★

Haven't seen this movie since I was a teen. The first half mostly holds up. The villian however is incredibly boring and the climax is both boring and stupid. Selma Hayek is in it though so it gets an extra star on the rating.
Review by rangophile ★★★★

my rating lies somewhere between 3.5 and 4
Review by Will ★★★★

Love that you can see the Spy Kid’s series DNA in this.
Review by Phranc ★★★

The opening scene with Steve Buscemi telling a bar full of seedy undesirables about a mysterious mariachi that just killed everyone in a similar bar the next town over is as good as Desperado gets (very few actors can take over the screen the way Buscemi does. His timing and delivery is hypnotic). Otherwise the only other memorable thing about the rest of the movie is how hot Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas are.
Review by mfaiella2 ★★★½

Hard to miss with Hayek and Banderas. What a sex scene. Buscemi is also a nice addition. Fun style and some moments that will really stick with me. Just didn’t wow me and was a bit simple. I also thought he mix was way off but that could have just been what I was watching on.
Review by Kim ★★★★

Just a damn good film with an excessively fun amount of blood.
Review by valencia0 ★★★★

carolina’s café con libros!!!